BANGALORE, December 21: A crib with figurines depicting the nativity scene is a big part of Christmas.
Fr. Joseph P. of Church of Good Faith, Fraser Town, says a crib is to invite people everywhere to “break down the social, economic, political injustice and spread the message of peace”.
Made of wood and straw, and increasingly, as Rajesh Khuli, owner of Christian Decors in Rajajinagar says, of poly resin, clay and ceramic, the cribs are usually painstakingly arranged by hand.
Handmade
Reshma Jacob, a homemaker from Vasantnagar, remembers her childhood in Kerala, when she used to assemble the crib from silt from the beach. For the last seven years, she has been making a crib using dry grass, which she says is not hard to find. She spends Rs. 200 on it.
13-year-old Mathew Richard from Jayanagar too joins his parents to make a crib for their home.
For others, there are always store-made cribs. Rhitwik S., a dealer in Christmas decorations on Church Street, said these can be installed on request. Readymade models using artificial hay cost anywhere between Rs. 600 and Rs. 7,000.
Colourful figurines, priced between Rs. 40 and Rs. 170, are sold in shops around St. Patrick’s Church on Brigade Road and Sis. Philomena’s Prayer Hall, St. Mark’s Road.
